Morningcloud's Insanity
by Willowfrost of LakeClan
Summary: "The kits she bares for you will be the fiercest of warriors, the gentlest of queens. Their blood will make DarkClan strong for generations upon generations. But beware, Morningpaw, lest the flames of a bright fire steal her away from you."


_A/N: Hi, everyone! Starr here with the first one-shot that pretty much goes along with the first book of the Legacy series. If you haven't started The Legacy Begins: Darkness in the Night, I recommend checking it out before reading this one shot, as it will contain some minor spoilers of names. But if that does not bother you, please, check them out in whichever order you wish!_

Also, check out the prologue for my newest story Pure Bred.

_Now then, the 100th reviewer Willowspring1, chose for the one-shot to be about Morningcloud's background. There were very few interesting things I had written down about his background, so I including only the most interesting, which would be his learning about Moonpaw and why he seems so obsessed with her. That, unfortunately, made for a somewhat short one-shot, but I hope it helps shed some light on him and his... craziness._

_Enjoy!_

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Warriors._

**Morningcloud's Insanity**

Morningcloud's lip curled in disgust as Lionstar scolded him and two other warriors for failing to bring Moonpaw in as a prisoner. Why did he always get bested by she-cats? For as long as he could remember, she-cats had been the source of every humiliation in his life. He couldn't make them all pay, not if he wanted to remain loyal to the warrior code, but he could make Moonpaw loyal to him.

The idea sent a thrill through him. That stupid she-cat, thinking she could just up and leave and go play warrior in an enemy Clan. He wouldn't allow it! She was destined to be his mate, the cats in the shadows had told him so - had promised her to him as repayment for his services to their cause.

He could still remember the day as an apprentice, when he had first dreamed of the shadowy cats of the Black Mountain. He hadn't known it then, but the Black Mountain was where the evil cats who died went. Cats who had committed great crimes against their Clans and the warrior code. But he wasn't breaking the warrior code - he was following it. Darkstar had declared that no DarkClan she-cat train as a warrior or medicine cat. He had started the rule that all DarkClan she-cats would live comfortably and provide DarkClan with large and healthy litters.

That was Moonpaw's destiny - not the path she walked now. The path that made her oppose him.

His tail lashed. Those SpiritClan fools had led her away, and the Black Mountain cats would insure that she returned to her real home. To him.

Nearby, a DarkClan queen watched him through narrow eyes. This she-cat was Skyheart, a black and white furred queen. Moonpaw's mother. She wondered what could have possibly happened to the tom to make him so cruel and angry. Or had he always been that way? As a kit, he'd been rejected by a she-kit he had a crush on. In every battle he'd had as an apprentice, he'd been defeated by a she-cat, which only made his anger grow more and more.

She could remember the day, moons ago, when he was born.

_\- Morningcloud's Insanity -_

"Two toms," Larkclaw meowed proudly. "And they are perfect. Well done, Swanfeather. You have served DarkClan well this litter."

Swanfeather blinked her blue eyes tiredly as her mate examined the kits.

"I have decided," he announced. "The light brown tom will be known as Morningkit, the other, Pebblekit."

Swanfeather nodded in acceptance, though she really had no choices. Toms named the tom kits, and she-cats would name the she-kits. That was how it had always been done. But even so, Swanfeather loved her kits. She felt a pain in her heart that this was how they would grow up - in this Clan who treated she-cats like nothing. But that was what SpiritClan had chosen for them, she could see it clearly.

They would make fine warriors, and some day, have fine kits of their own.

The first few moons passed and Pebblekit and Morningkit continued to grow. It wasn't long until Morningkit began going out of his way trying to impress Sagekit, but the young she-cat would have nothing to do with him. One day, she sent him running to his mother, with a bleeding ear and a tiny broken heart.

Maybe that was what had caused his anger towards all she-cats.

As Morningkit and Pebblekit grew into Morningpaw and Pebblepaw, things only seemed to get worse. Apprenticed to Elmheart, Morningpaw's training was intense, and his mentor - as the deputy - expected much from him.

His first failure came after only two moons of training.

Morningpaw's ears pricked as he watched Elmheart - who led the sunhigh patrol - hiss a warning as a LakeClan patrol appeared. At their head was a she-cat with ginger fur. Elmheart dipped his head to her reluctantly and she did the same.

"Elmheart."

Elmheart sneered. "Emberpelt."

The ginger she-cat's eyes flashed. With her were three other cats a silver tom with blue eyes, a dusky brown apprentice, and a pale gray she-cat.

"New apprentice?" Elmheart inquired.

"Ripplepaw," Emberpelt answered. "My apprentice and Silentmist's younger sister. She's actually been an apprentice for four moons now, Elmheart. Remember?"

Ripplepaw's fur was bristling.

"They actually train she-cats?" Morningpaw inquired. "But they're so useless!"

Ripplepaw spat. "I could beat you any day, you flea-bitten piece of crow-food."

Morningpaw growled.

"Ripplepaw!" Emberpelt scolded.

The other apprentice shifted uneasily on his paws and glanced at Silentmist, who must have been his mentor. The apprentice looked to be maybe a single moon - maybe two - younger than Morningpaw.

"Watch the border," Elmheart meowed coldly. "You're about three pawsteps from crossing."

"Stupid furball," Morningpaw muttered.

Ripplepaw launched at him, her claws slicing across his cheek. Morningpaw hissed and used his body weight to pin her, but she delivered a swift kick to his belly, winding him and knocking him off of her. He panted for breath as her mentor knocked the young cat aside, hissing in annoyance.

"Ripplepaw, we do not attack when provoked," Emberpelt scolded.

Morningpaw's pelt burned with shame, and he could tell from Elmheart's look that his mentor was none too pleased by what had occurred.

"Morningpaw, we're going home," Elmheart flicked his tail and led the rest of the patrol away. "This isn't over, Emberpelt! LakeClan can expect trouble."

He strained, but if Emberpelt made a reply, Morningpaw didn't hear it.

That night, Morningpaw dreamed of cats stalking about the base a black mountain. As he watched, a single white furred tom came forward. Everywhere the tom's paws touched, the grass would die beneath his feet.

_"Don't fret, Morningpaw," the tom meowed. "Your perfect mate is coming. A she-cat as beautiful as the silver moon that hangs in the sky above you. She will be stubborn, and she will be a rule-breaker. But if you can mold her, make her loyal to you and to her duty to DarkClan, then she will give you the power you need to rise to greatness. The kits she bares for you will be the fiercest of warriors, the gentlest of queens. Their blood will make DarkClan strong for generations upon generations. But beware, Morningpaw, lest the flames of a bright fire steal her away from you."_

_"How will I know which she-cat she is?" Morningpaw had asked. _

_"You will know, we will make sure of it," the tom said. "My name is Iceheart, and I will be your guide. As long as I walk at your side, as long as I help you, you will get her. But our help comes at a price. You see, there is something we need you to do. A cat that can never be born or else DarkClan will crumble and no longer be the strong and noble Clan that we know it is."_

"Did you hear?" Pebblepaw asked one day two moons later. "Skyheart had her kits, three toms and a she-cat. They named them already, too."

Morningpaw grunted as he ate his mouse.

"The toms are Stormkit, Shadowkit, and Stonekit," his brother went on. "The she-cat is Moonkit."

"Moonkit?" Morningpaw asked, nearly choking on a piece of mouse. Finally!

_\- Morningcloud's Insanity -_

The shadowy cat had said his perfect mate would come - a she-cat as beautiful as the silvery moon. Now he would just have to watch her, to make sure she never strayed from her duties to him or to DarkClan. In his mind, his obsession with the power she would give him began to grow. As Moonpaw grew, Morningpaw began to watch her more and more.

She was defiant in little ways - playing with unsheathed claws against the warriors, drawing the blood of the tom kits. Morningpaw bristled every time he saw her doing it. He would not allow it to continue, not once he could have his choosing of the mate ceremony.

But he held off, continued to watch. He thought that perhaps if he could win her over a little, she would calm down.

He became a warrior when she was four moons old. His warrior name was Morningcloud - a name he thought fitting for a cat as he. It made him wonder what her queen name would be. It would have to be something beautiful, yet still powerful. Something that would fit well with his so that when cats heard their names together they would be filled with nothing but envy.

He never realized that he had spent too long waiting. By the time he was ready to officially announce who he wanted as a mate, Moonkit was gone. Off to join LakeClan and play warrior. The thought made him dig his claws into the ground.

"Beware lest the flames of a bright fire steal her away from you," Morningcloud muttered, eyes narrowing.

The bright fire would no doubt be that stuck-up goody-two-paws, Firestorm. Morningcloud's lip curled in disgust. The tom was always coming to Moonpaw's rescue, and Morningcloud had caught the fiery tom staring at her on more than one occasion at the Gatherings.

Firestorm would not steal his perfect mate. No.

Firestorm would die by his claws before he let that fish-breath touch the she-cat that the Black Mountain cats had chosen for him and him alone.


End file.
